Tim Campbell - 7 Key Benefits of the New Apprenticeships

"Why business CAN and SHOULD drive the apprenticeship agenda." - Tim Campbell, MBE

You might remember Tim Campbell, the self-styled working-class Londoner who won the first series of BBC’s The Apprentice to land a £100,000 a year role working for fellow East-ender Lord Sugar.

Since then he’s been busy. Passionate for helping young people in business, Tim founded the Bright Ideas Trust, an organisation which raises money and provides support and knowledge for young entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds who are looking to set up their own businesses.

Tim’s desire to support the millennial generation into the world of work lead him to accept a position as London’s Ambassador for Training and Enterprise for then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, while partnering with a number of organisations to promote the benefits of Apprenticeships.

So on all counts, he was an ideal speaker to deliver an inspirational talk about apprenticeships.

Pareto CEO Jonathan Fitchew and Tim Campbell

Pareto were delighted to welcome Tim to speak at our recent event, Apprenticeships Mean Business, which aimed to explain the new wave of apprenticeships and the potential benefits of the Levy.

During a lively and thought-provoking speech, Tim listed seven key benefits that modern Apprentices bring to organisations and why you should think very carefully about the area of your business you are planning to invest your levy:

1. I think it [the Apprenticeship Levy] is a hugely positive opportunity for organizations to ring-fence talent development within their businesses, at all levels, all departments.

Tim could hardly speak about apprenticeships without raising the subject of the controversial Apprenticeship Levy. While many businesses are writing the levy off as a tax, Tim echoed what Pareto have been saying about the Levy for some time. ‘I think the levy presents a huge opportunity to think about some of the things you want from a talent perspective, in your business. This is the time when you can have really constructive conversations.’

Investing in training and development is the NO1 motivator for milennials in the workplace. Having a strong apprenticeship program in place with undoubtedly enable businesses to ATTRACT the very best new talent.

2. The power of aligning someone with the aptitude or skill with the right opportunity is amazing.

Naturally, considering Tim’s founding of the Bright Ideas Trust and work with disadvantaged young people, including young offenders, his key appreciation of apprenticeships comes in the opportunities they present for young people.

This might not seem so directly beneficial to employers but no-one can underestimate how rewarding this opportunity is for the employers themselves, for their own sense of motivation and social responsibility. Besides that, finding someone with the aptitude your business needs is also hugely valuable.

Let’s also not forget the extraordinarily positive ripple effect that a truly motivated employee, who feels they are self- actualizing, can have on wider employees, a department, a business.

3. The reason why people stay in apprenticeships is it’s probably the first time an employer has told them, this is something they can do.

We’ve all experienced turnover and the negative effects it can have on productivity, with Oxford Economics finding that recruiting costs an average of £30k per employee and over £1bn to the UK economy each year.

Apprenticeships are hugely advantageous in this respect, with the value of receiving professional training and have an employer believe in an employee dramatically reducing attrition rates.

4. I don’t think we should call them soft skills at all, they are essential skills.

There has been a plethora of new soft skill based apprenticeships launched since the new reforms, in recognition of their pivotal importance to the British economy.

In a recent independent survey, commissioned by Pareto, across 300 major levy paying businesses, almost 70% of British CEO’s stated that soft skills were more important to their productivity than hard or technical skills.

Tim talked about the soft skills businesses value most highly, from Communication to Coaching, Leadership, Persuasion, Self- Awareness, Rapport Building, Customer Relationship Skills, and Negotiation – many of which are covered in the new range of apprenticeship schemes now available – one of the main problems is that employers are simply unaware of the new schemes or that the Government will pay 90% of the training costs!

For example, a Customer Service Level 2 Apprenticeship (standard cost £4,000) will cost you just £26 per month in 15 payments. To find out more about how this funding works, simply contact our team on 0330 057 48910330.

He also referenced how, in a national survey amongst 17 000 employers, 91% stated they thought negotiation to be the most important business soft skill, however only 11% of entry level talent claimed they had this skill, revealing a critical market gap.

While Tim mentioned the automation of roles, such as interviews being set by an automatic scheduling process, he also talked about how we shouldn’t be so concerned with robots replacing people.

A more positive way to look at the growth of automation and AI is that it frees resource up to focus on other vital functions and opportunities that only talented individuals, with judgement, intuition, and an appropriate mix of soft and hard skills are able to unlock.

Customer relationship building, sales and commercial development are strong examples of roles that simply cannot be replaced through AI, and there are a range of new apprenticeship schemes out there to develop them.

The IT Technical Sales Apprenticeship provides a world class tech and soft skills training opportunity for employers who can utilise 90% government funding, for as little as £80 per month! Any business in a tech field should be exploring this world class talent development opportunity while funding is still available. Call Pareto, specialists in IT Technical Sales Apprenticeship training on 0330 057 4891.

6. Apprenticeships should all be about quality. You are paying for this so you should understand what you want to get out of it... You as business owners are dictating the agenda.

Now that the new apprenticeship standards are being devised by employers, the onus is on employers to demand the training they need for their business.

There are dozens of apprenticeship schemes already available and in planning ahead for your workforce, you can choose the apprenticeships which meet your needs. If they don’t exist? Tim advised businesses to reach out to the government to exert pressure, as the commitment is there to launch more and more schemes to meet the needs of businesses – with hundreds in the pipeline and fluid scheme innovation.

7. Customize your Apprenticeship - don’t buy off the shelf!

Leverage your 90% GOVERNMENT FUNDED POT to leverage the benefits of world class apprenticeship training solutions for as little as £26 per month!*

The all- important fact Tim is referring to here is that the new apprentice will emerge far more business fit, and ready to deliver REAL ROI. And that’s because the new schemes have inherent flexibility for the employer to work with their training partner to context and anchor the learning in highly relevant business challenges and opportunities, with a far more rigorous end point assessment process ensuring real competence.

Gone are the old cliches of long tail learning, with the image of the apprentice making the tea and ‘serving time’.

The new schemes are demanding, highly business relevant, and created by employers, for employers, so use them to empower your employees and your businesses. Now ranging from entry level to degree, the new apprenticeships are motivating to talent at all levels, so make sure you capitalize on the new scope.

Inspired? Find out more..

If you want to find out more about how the new Apprenticeships could benefit your business, or how to achieve the strongest ROI with your Levy pot, speak to our Apprenticeships Advice team on 0330 057 4891 or complete the form below.